School fires teacher linked to student slaying

Erin McLean’s husband, Eric, is charged with second-degree murder in the March 10 shooting of 18-year-old Sean Powell outside of their Knoxville home. McLean believed Powell was having an affair with his wife, who had met the student last fall while practice teaching at his high school in Knoxville.

Erin McLean used her maiden name, Myers, at Pioneer Christian Academy in Nashville, where she was teaching high school English, WTVF reported.

‘She wasn’t forthcoming in her answers and what was on her resume and that sort of thing,’ headmaster Jeff Darnell told the station Friday.

McLean called one of her students several times and the student’s parents became concerned about inappropriate contact, Darnell said.

‘There were a lot of phone calls going to a particular student,’ he said. ‘It was 15 to 20 phone calls or so from different phones.’

Darnell would not elaborate on the nature of the phone calls to the student.

Eric McLean’s attorney Bruce Poston said he was planning on speaking with the student and the school and that the allegations could be used as evidence in his client’s trial. Erin McLean is not charged in the case.

‘If she deceived and lied, that goes to her credibility as a witness,’ Poston said.

Eric McLean is free on bond pending a trial set for January 2008, but it could be delayed further.

He has also filed a divorce complaint against his estranged wife, who is currently living with the couple’s two children at her parent’s home in Nashville.

She has not made any public comments since the slaying. Her attorney, Gary Blackburn, did not return a request from The Associated Press for comment Friday night, but he told WTVF his client made a mistake.

In a divorce complaint filed by attorney Steve Sharp, the husband claims his wife drinks in excess, has been verbally and physically abusive of their two children, and has committed adultery.

The complaint argues that the father is ‘fit and proper person to have the sole care, custody and control’ of the children, but does not mention his pending murder charge.